In the current Internet there exist many different types of media assets in the form of digital files. Digital files may contain data representing one or more types of content, including but not limited to, audio, images, and videos. For example, media assets include file formats such as MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (“MP3”) for audio, Joint Photographic Experts Group (“JPEG”) for images, Motion Picture Experts Group (“MPEG-2” and “MPEG-4”) for video, Adobe Flash for animations, and executable files.
Such media assets are currently created and edited using applications executing locally on a dedicated computer. For example, in the case of digital video, popular applications for creating and editing media assets include Apple's iMovie and FinalCut Pro and Microsoft's MovieMaker. After creation and editing a media asset, one or more files may be transmitted to a computer (e.g., a server) located on a distributed network such as the Internet. The server may host the files for viewing by different users. Examples of companies operating such servers are YouTube (http://youtube.com) and Google Video (http://video.google.com).
Presently, users must create and/or edit media assets on their client computers before transmitting the media assets to a server. Many users are therefore unable able to edit media assets from another client where, for example, the user's client computer does not contain the appropriate application or media asset for editing. Moreover, editing applications are typically designed for professional or high-end consumer markets. Such applications do not address the needs of average consumers who lack dedicated computers with considerable processing power and/or storage capacity.
Additionally, average consumers typically do not have the transmission bandwidth necessary to transfer, share or access media assets that may be widespread across a network. Increasingly, many media assets are stored on computer connected to the Internet. For example, services such as Getty Images sell media assets (e.g., images) that are stored on computers connected to the Internet. Thus, when a user requests a media asset for manipulation or editing, the asset is typically transferred in its entirety over the network. Particularly in the case of digital video, such transfers may consume tremendous processing and transmission resources.